Someone below encouraged listening to this Dark Star while driving....I digress! Listening to this DS while driving could be hazardous due to the hypnotic transcendental qualities. Do as I did and listen by candlelight under a crisp autumn moonlight sky and then kiss reality goodbye for a fat 45 minutes or so. When you touch back down, you'll never be the same.

In this version, the SBD fades into an AUD with about one minute left. That AUD portion matches the official release, but the SBD portion here does not match up. So we know the last one minute or so is correct both here and on the box set. Is the SBD portion as represented here from a different show, or is the beginning part of the Rockin' the Rhein/Europe 72 box spliced from a different show? The box set has several sneaky splices like this throughout. Normally I would trust the archive over the official release, but given the mixed-up song order, perhaps this representation was incorrect from the start. A complete AUD would solve this mystery. I'm pretty sure it exists, but both versions on the archive have the SBDs spliced in. Anybody know for sure?
QUESTION ANSWERED: The OMSN on this archive recording (except for the last 40 seconds) is actually from 5/18/72! Check the official release for the true recording from this night. It's smokin'!

This recording is terrible.
No way to review this source.

Everyone played so well, on this night. Playful vocals and tasty licks abound.
Magnificent first set, with the best Tenn. Jed solo I've heard. Loser starts strong, and hits a peak that I didn't expect. '71 and '72 Losers are a pretty solid litmus test of a show for me, and this one gets it. Yep.

This was once the go-to Euro72 show because it was the first to be released in its entirety and had the novelty of a 44min Dark Star (with a MaMu sandwich), but has lost some of its sheen now that the whole tour has been released and there's been time to digest other shows that were either not favored by tapes-and-postage tradition or overlooked. It's still a good show of course and though maybe not an E72 top 10 overall, it has a Top 5 first set. It was played at the then-new "Halle 6 auf dem Messe Düsseldorf". Blair says Keith pwns the show - true after the first set.
First Set. Truckin' is warmed up and ready. By Tennessee Jed they're already playing so consistent it's insane. The rest of the set is consistently stellar. Brent plays a Yellow Rose of Texas into one of the tour's A+ China>Riders. Beat it on Down the Line-5 is also a tour best contender and Bobby's fills are incredible on Loser-SS. Playin' has a slower tempo than most of the tour (it was one of the two songs played every night) & Next Time is one of Top 3 of the tour. Good Lovin' gets the first monster jam (and not Playin') and has hints of '76. The middle is sort of like a Dark Star>Caution with a Pig rap. Keith makes Casey more than the usual run-through.
Second Set. Dark Star is one of the five longest-ever @44min, though it does have a sandwiched Me & My Uncle (Paris doesn't @ 40min and Rotterdam is 48min). Though length ≠ automatic stature, it's worth hearing, though not a tour top 5. Bobby's abrupt MaMU segue is cool but as soon as "by the side of the road" Jer goes straight back to where he left off! Wharf was the rarest song this night and the tempo has pulled the emergency brake by Sugar Mag.
Third Set. A Stars and Stripes Forever opens He's Gone and though I haven't researched it, seems there are more tuning songs on E72 than any equal tour. This is the second one and doesn't have the bridge yet (still two shows away from writing the rest of the song) and the set doesn't have the life of the other two except for GDtRFB and the encore. El Paso is sans solo and Billy suddenly speeds up on NFA (it sounds like a tape error but it's on the AUDs). "This is our new single" Bobby proclaims before a hyperspeed Saturday Night. In the USA it was on Bobby's solo LP, but for the Europe tour they rushed an edited single as "The Grateful Dead featuring Bobby Ace" (the Rock name he tried using on the tour. "Billy I told you once - I won't answer unless you call me Bobby Ace"!) to get airplay and hopefully dent the charts. It was c/w Bertha (from Skull Fuck) and the sleeve had a cut-out coffin (Machen sie sich ihren sarg!). It was in the key of F at the time so, at this speed, Bobby can barely squeak fast enough to keep up with the paybacks-are-a-bitch 4-on-the-floor from Billy. More a curio than a top version and Jer has no room - but props for being a fucking rock band. "Bobby wouldja pass the salt?" "No, goddamnit Billy. Not until you call me Bobby Ace!"
1st Set:  A
2nd Set: B-
3rd Set:  B-
Overall = 4 Stars
Highlights:
All of Truckin' through Beat It On Down the Line-5 is tight and interplayed
Next Time You See Me - one of the tour's best
Casey Jones - all about Keith
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad - everybody is on their game
SOURCES: The first two discs of the E72 Complete box have a different mix than Rockin' the Rhein (slightly more Keith/less Jer/clearer Phil). The 3rd and 4th discs are the same. The SBD and AUD both run way too fast. The first item released from this show was Me & Bobby McGee, on Weir Here.

several have a case for being the best ever, including this. my favorite version of '72 is probabaly 9/21, but this one is pretty close behind.
this Dark Star is just so mindbogglingly intense, i can hardly stand it. this could scare the shit out of you under the right "circumstances" if you know what i mean.
i just love the echo Kieth gets out of his piano during this performance...really helps give this version a unique sound...

This is what is says on the iTunes page for this CD:
Although the Grateful Dead's 1972 European excursion has been the subject of several multi-volume packages, Rockin' the Rhein With the Grateful Dead (2004) is the first inclusive and unedited concert taken from their initial full-fledged tour outside North America. According to the liner notes "...some very minor adjustments had to be made to the show's running order, both to keep all of the musical sequences intact and to present you with the complete show, unabridged." Producer Jeffrey Norman commented, "I realize everyone is used to the CD order because that's the order on the [surreptitiously traded] rough mixes, but that's not truly how the sets went down. I found that out when I put on the multi-tracks and listened to the segues between songs, as well as the '...thank you we'll be right back...' after [both] "Casey Jones" and "Sugar Magnolia." If we had kept the original set order, we would have had to break up the long segments. [The approach we chose] seemed a more musically, if not historically, pleasing thing to do." Hence, there were, in fact, three sets played that night. The first is replicated as it happened, while the second boasted the meaty "Dark Star" suite running through "Sugar Magnolia." According to Norman, the third consisted of: "He's Gone," "It Hurts Me Too," "El Paso," "Not Fade Away">"Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad">"Not Fade Away (Reprise)," followed by the "One More Saturday Night" encore. That noteworthy historical caveat aside, casual enthusiasts as well as Deadheads alike have long praised 1972 as a challenging and pivotal era. A rousing "Truckin'" kicks things off, initiating a set that yielded effective run-throughs of primarily newer tunes, such as Bob Weir's (guitar/vocals) Bakersfield-influenced "Black-Throated Wind," Jerry Garcia's (guitar/vocals) "Loser," and the Ron "Pigpen" McKernan-led "Chinatown Shuffle," "Mr. Charlie," and "Next Time You See Me." Things really begin to gel during the "China Cat Sunflower">"I Know You Rider" coupling. Their inspired interaction on the pairing continues for "Playing in the Band," foreshadowing the epic "Dark Star" ahead. Keeping to the track list here, the next set commences with the second-ever live performance of "He's Gone" that suffers a few minor growing pains perhaps not even discernible to the casual listener. The aforementioned "Dark Star">"Me & My Uncle">"Wharf Rat"> "Sugar Magnolia" finds them unleashing their true psychedelic potential as the collective improvisations are nothing short of transportational. While practically anything would pale in comparison, the reading of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" — split by a refreshing "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" — maintains a substantive energy level and boasts some of Garcia's trademark crystalline string work. The bonus tracks feature two McKernan classics from May 24, 1972, at the Lyceum in London. The highlight is an exhilarating "(Turn on Your) Lovelight," which marks the final time the concert staple was driven by Pigpen, as failing health prohibited him from touring again. Accompanying the discs is a nine-panel poster sporting black-and-white photos and a replica of artwork. Parties purchasing Rockin' the Rhein (2004) from the band's own merchandising website can take advantage of a CD premium offering 73 minutes from a series of March 1972 shows for the Academy of Music, New York City March 1972 (2004).

hey pigpen dude if this aint the best dark star i've ever heard it's close. what do you think the best one is?

I listened to this Dark Star for the first time in at least a year or two last night, alone, in my car at top volume and Holy Shit! this is now my most favorite Dark Star..Its got some of what 4/8/72 is like, and its part 8/27/72 but its.... I was going to break it down for you, but why would I spoil it for you? My recommendation is to listen to this Dark Star in the car LOUD AS HELL
watch out

I discovered the Rheinhalle 4/24/1972 show in the winter of 2008. I listened to it for about 2 months straight. It's pretty damn good overall. The Dark Star>Me and My Uncle>Dark Star>Sugar Magnolia is an astonishing highlight. I never heard anything about this show before and didn't know it had so many amazing performances. It contains my new all-time favorite Dark Star as well as a transcendent Black-Throated Wind. Bobby is in excellent voice and Pigpen is too. The boys were rockin' that night fo sho. Can't imagine the audience being the way it seemed - a little tame, but I guess that's the way it was in Europe. Donna's vocals are a bit off from time to time as she gets a little shrill and over-sings some parts, but she only does that on a few songs. Very few complaints about this one, it's a keeper and worth the price, though mine had a scratch right over Me and Bobby McGee, of which I can only hear the last minute or so. Not the band's fault, I guess, but I've always loved their version of that song. Superb show.

I am so tired of finding all these gems pulled because of Rhino and GDM.......come on---we all only live once. All that is left in 2008 is the most hardcore of Dead fans....we have bought so many of your releases, so many shows attended (w/ tickets always bought and in hand for the show)....if I had never bought the supposed "fundraiser" Ltd. Edition Terrapin Disc in 1997 and been charged $40 back then w/ all this hoopla about building an interactive "Terrapin Station.", I would not feel so dis-enfranchised. In the end, GDM did NOTHING towards making this happen. Who and what are we left to trust????? You arguably have the most original, eclectic, loyal fan bases in the history of live, modern music----this Archive is the dream GDM hinted @ when they willingly took our money for the much hyped and marketed Terrapin Project shows. Leave us alone and leave these shows be, PLEASE!!! Google "Terrapin Station Project" to see what I am talking about if you are in the dark........I would have bought the 3 disc set, anyways--GLADLY---regardless, even if it supported anything other than my selfish listening pleasure...but you guys either lied or mis-represented and did not organize what YOU said you were going to do with the money...and never looked back. FACT. Nice Pipe Dream,guys---leave the real "dream", Archive.org, ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!Please!

This is the best show there is. Kind of. If there is a better show out there then I have not found it. BUY IT!!!!
************OR I WILL BEAT YOU ON DOWN THE LINE.************
And this show also has the best vresions of every song except "Dark Star". This is not the bst version of that. But every other song it is. BUY IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish they would let you download it still....):

This is another official release worth its price. Before its release there were apparently only far inferior circulating copies of this show. The Dark Star is epic and one of the top 10 ever - according to the excellent list/discussion avail on deadlists:
www.deadlists.com/dlsite/darkstar.txt />I'd have to agree.

The officially released Rockin' the Rhein is without question worth picking up. Not only is the quality far better than any previous version of the show, but the performance is fantastic; it's one of the Top 3 Europe '72 shows without question. Not to spoil the surprise, the Dark Star>Me & My Uncle>Dark Star>Wharf Rat>Sugar Mag is priceless. The awesome Star especially is very trippy and spacey, topped only by the 47-minute 5/11/72 Star. So damn it, get Rockin' the Rhien and sit back.
P.S. RTR has flawless SBD quality; it doesn't sound liefless at all; plenty of hall echo on the vocals and instruments.

Order "Rockin' the Rhein" here:
http://www.gdstore.com/rockintherhein/ />"3 CD set of the first-ever complete show release from what is widely considered one of, if not THE best Grateful Dead tours of all time, the well-documented Europe '72 tour.
Mixed from the original 16 track analog master tapes, and mastered in glorious HDCD, "Rockin' the Rhein" finally unleashes one of the most sought-after performances from the Grateful Dead's legendary vault, the unabridged April 24, 1972 show from Dusseldorf, West Germany."

The AUD patch is pretty bad. Get this show for the Dark Star though, which is from the SBD.

This is probably the highlight of the Euro '72 (you could easily argue 5/10 however) and is simply an amazing show with perhaps (in my opinion) a Top 3 of All-Time Dark Star. This is being released by GD in all it's SBD glory in the near future, and will certainly be a great update over this listenable but degraded copy. Still one of the best, from one of the best tours/years for the Dead.

This show has a great setlist and the potential to be a great show all around if only the sound was slightly better on set 1. The AUD source doesn't quite capture the mood and feeling of the show, though it is still listen-to-able. The second set is much better, though you can tell the effects of a generation or two here, it is definately SBD. Check out the Dark Star > Me and My Uncle > Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Sugar Mags...some really good stuff. Aside from slight sound quality disappointments, still a recommended show